European cities are places on the move. From Vienna to Paris, Barcelona to Bratislava, our continent’s urban centres are dynamic, busy and full of people and businesses on the go. How we get from A to B is constantly changing and while city centres are now characterised by a new generation of urban mobility solutions – from scooters to bikes, there are lots of cool new ways to zip and zoom about the city. Where’s the newness coming from? Startups of course!
It’s reported that European mobility startups fetched about €14 billion of investment last year, with those focusing on cleaner and greener options getting the biggest bucks. Given that in 2021 for the first time in recorded history, the average monthly level of CO2 in the atmosphere exceeded 410 parts per million (ppm), making the air more polluted than ever – it’s clear this move to green movement is imperative.
Cities tend to have even higher levels of CO2, leading to dire health consequences, from heart disease to cancer. This makes it a more urgent problem to change inner city logistics than outer city transportation. Investors are on trend with this and have funded several startups contributing to cleaner air.
So, today we’re taking a closer look at the startups that are leading the change across Europe and paving the way toward cleaner and greener urban mobility.
Yego is an scooter ride-sharing platform based in Barcelona. Yego provides a fun and easy way to access electric scooters with a very flexible payment programme (per minute or via ride plans and packs) including insurance and helmets, 24/7 availability and no need to return scooters to a particular station. With currently over 600 scooters in Barcelona and Paris, the company wants to create a community of conscious riders who are making city transport better and greener. The vehicles are 100% electric and thus 100% pollution-free. Founded in 2016, the company’s mission is to empower citizens, stylise them and create an experience by sharing sustainable vehicles. Yego is driven by ‘the pleasure of riding, the feeling of freedom and the contribution to have a better city for each one of us.’ So far, the company has picked up €2,7 million in funding.
UpwayUpway is a marketplace for reconditioned electric bikes. Upway refurbishes and reconditions ebikes which allows them to be sold to new users. The company strongly believes that ebikes and escooters are the way forward and are going to continue to grab market share from less environmentally friendly means of transport such as cars. What makes Upway special is that not only do they encourage more biking, but they’re doing so with a circular approach by recycling existing unloved and pre-used bikes. The startup has received €30 million in funding to date. Upway is already operational in France and Belgium and will soon launch its marketplace in Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S. By the end of 2022, the company will have three different warehouses where bikes will be revised and refurbished.
Bonnet Bonnet is building software for mapping electric vehicle charge points by aggregating location, payment data, charge times and charge types in one application. Currently, Electric Vehicle charging is overly-complicated with lots of different charge types, unreliable information and diverse payment methods. The Electric Vehicle charging app is designed to remove the stress and hassle of finding your nearest available electric car charging points and turn it into more of a treat than a chore. Bonnet offers ‘One payment, flat tariff, all chargers.’ Based in London, the startup has received €6.6 million in funding from VC. It was founded in 2019 and growing fast with its highly-demanded tech.
Cling Over 6 million Electric Vehicles are forecast to be shipped in 2022, 35% more than in 2021. Electric vehicles are obviously better for the environment than non-electric ones, but, the whole picture should be considered – for example, what’s going to happen to all the batteries after they’ve been used up? Well, Cling has a solution. Stockholm-based Cling has developed an intelligent collection and trading platform that connects manufacturers, workshops and dismantlers to buyers of end-of-life batteries. Its B2B platform aggregates data and ensures the environmental and commercial value of used batteries is realised through responsible reuse and recycling at scale. Founded in 2020, the company is on a journey to develop a platform that matches each used battery with its material content and location to a buyer in order to enable optimal circularity of batteries on a global scale.
Chainge is an initiative from Copenhagen to reduce inner-city CO2, NOx, noise pollution and traffic congestion by replacing delivery vans with cargo bike-driven vans. Chainge specialises in ‘sustainable last mile logistics’ (LML). They mostly move items in the food and subscription sectors, however, with their large bikes they can move many products within any industry. The goal is to remove as many trucks and vans from the city as possible in order to contribute to clean, less noisy air. Chainge has received funding from EIT and other climate funds.
Vianova During Covid-19 we saw a surge in demand for new urban mobility solutions such as last-mile delivery, electric scooters and ebikes. With an increasing variety of multi-modal mobility services now operating in cities, from public train and bus services to private operators of ride-hailing and micromobility, cities need tools to help them manage, optimise and regulate these services. Founded in 2019, Vianova is a Paris-based startup that uses connected vehicle data to help cities reduce congestion and build more efficient transport systems. Vianova’s data platform enhances the collaboration and integration between cities and mobility operators, leading to better use of public space. The French startup’s platform is used by micromobility providers, like e-scooter sharing companies, and city officials to coordinate various services and monitor usage data. It recently launched its services in Stockholm with Swedish e-scooter company Voi.
HomerrBorn in Amsterdam, Homerr is changing inner city logistics by organising pick-up points where needed. Instead of centralising distribution, the company asks private people or existing businesses to serve as a pickup point or intermediary for packages. This way you can pick up your package close by and there is no need for a truck to ride once or twice your way to see if you are home to receive your package. You could also work as an intermediary and store packages to be picked up at your home. Homerr was founded in 2018 and has received €1 million in VC funding so far.
MagwayMagway is an all-electric, zero-emissions, low-footprint, high-capacity delivery system. It offers a hyperloop for deliveries, featuring a self-driving electric train with storage capacity for multiple storage containers. The concept is to enable the delivery of any package anywhere without creating a CO2 footprint. Further, Magway’s solution can run along the highway instead of on it, thus circumventing a lot of congestion problems. Its mission is to drive the electrical revolution, unlock new economies and connect cities, towns and communities like never before. The goal is to wipe 90% of delivery vehicles from the roads, reducing congestion and pollution. Founded in 2017, Magway is from Wembley, UK and has received €6 million in seed funding.
OnomotionAn innovative solution for moving cargo through our inner cities is Berlin-based Onomotion. It is quickly disrupting the inner-city landscape of last-mile logistics with an elegant three-wheeler solution. Onomotion’s e-cargo bike is combining the flexibility of a bicycle with the capacity and durability of a van. They offer environmentally-friendly urban logistics solutions designed and optimized for the cities of today. Their modular electric vehicle is both fast and environmentally friendly, delivering an attractive alternative for customers to cargo delivery vans or moving services. Onomotion is now available in 18 German cities, offering a compelling clean alternative to traditional transport means. There is a neat software component, too, making this a more scalable and containerised solution than many other plays in the urban transport stack. Onomotion was founded in Berlin in 2016 and is backed by six investors who put in €8 million in funding to date.
DOCKRDOCKR offers a completely flexible range of electric mobility options that produce zero emissions for SMEs. Dockr is a range of bikes plus cargo carriers. This Dutch mobility startup lets entrepreneurs serve the inner cities affordably, cleanly, and quickly, with its small electric transportation options. It is not only an easy and clean alternative to a van, Dockr is easy to park on the sidewalk too. There is a range of electric vehicles with flexible contracts for you to choose from. You can choose between a monthly and a relatively cheaper annual subscription. Prices start at €249 per Month for an electric cargo bike. Dockr has raised €4 million and was founded in 2018 and is based in Utrecht.
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